On the heels of what he called his “hardest … welcome to the NBA” moment, Jordan Clarkson was asked to describe his plans for the All-Star break.

The Lakers’ rookie said that after the Lakers play Wednesday in Portland, he will return home to San Antonio, work on his game at the gymnasium of his old stomping grounds, Wagner High School, and then get back early to work with a teammate.

EL SEGUNDO – If Jim Buss is the man to turn around the Lakers and guide the organization back toward relevance, it needs to happen this summer, says the most influential outsider.

When Magic Johnson speaks about the Lakers, folks tend to perk up and listen. On Tuesday, the Lakers’ great who sold his ownership stake in the team in 2011, appeared on ESPN’s First Take, where he criticized Buss’s management since the death of his father, Dr. Jerry Buss.

ORLANDO – When it comes to being fired in the NBA, there are few active coaches who know that pain better than Lakers coach Byron Scott. He has been fired three times, more than all but Minnesota’s Flip Saunders, including twice mid-season.

He is something of an authority on the subject.

With his team in Orlando, Scott said the Lakers need to be wary of the reeling Magic (15-37), who on Thursday fired coach Jacque Vaughn amid a 10-game losing streak.

MILWAUKEE – With a decade-old feud with Jason Kidd dusted off and on display for all to see, Byron Scott insisted that such things have no impact on the actual game.

“Neither one of us is gonna have shorts on out there playing,” Scott said.

Still, following his first coaching matchup with the former player who reportedly helped him get fired 11 years ago, Scott found himself questioning one pivotal decision that might have cost the Lakers in a 113-105 loss to ...

MILWAUKEE – As a first-time head coach with the New Jersey Nets, Byron Scott guided the New Jersey Nets to the NBA Finals. And the anchor of his roster was All-Star point guard Jason Kidd, who carried a bit of a reputation.

“He was kind of known as an (expletive),” Scott said.

Going into his first career coaching matchup with Kidd, who now helms the Milwaukee Bucks (26-22), the first-year Lakers coach didn’t offer much in the way of a rebuttal to ...